Stand Beside Me
by The Plutonian
Summary: Songfic: Sapphire died. Setsuna is crushed. What shall come to pass?


AN: Bah, this is going to be on the shorter side, and I probably won't end up adding to it.  
  
~lyrics~  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the song or the show/manga.  
  
~*~ Stand Beside Me  
  
(Stephen Allen Davis)  
  
Setsuna sighed. He was gone. Wiseman had killed him. Sapphir was dead. The one man she had loved all his life was dead. Thing was, he didn't even know. She fell to her knees and burst into tears. She couldn't take the pain anymore.  
  
~He left me cryin' late one Sunday night outside of Boulder  
  
He said he had to find himself out on the road  
  
I guess when love goes wrong  
  
You've gotta learn to be strong ~  
  
After a few hours of sobbing uncontrollably, Setsuna managed to regain her composure. She would never get over anything if she just sat around moping all day. She stood and opened a portal to earth. She could leave the gates for short amounts of time, so she wasn't breaking a taboo.  
  
~So I worked two jobs  
  
And I moved three times  
  
I ended up south of Memphis, workin' down in Riverside  
  
I may not be so lucky in love  
  
But the one thing I'm sure of ~  
  
Setsuna sighed as she walked down the street. If she was going to spend time in this world, she needed a job. She decided that she couldn't look much older than twenty-one, so she applied at the local college. She walked into a coffee shop and bought a late`.  
  
The young woman watched people come and go. They were all so entangled in their own lives. No one noticed her. One man did, though. He was different from the others. His eyes were an enticing shade of green that made him seem almost otherworldly. He sat with her without a word, though he had her talking before long. By the time Setsuna had finished her mug, she had a date for the evening.  
  
~I want a man that stands beside me  
  
Not in front of or behind me  
  
Give me two arms that want to hold me, not own me  
  
And I'll give all the love in my heart  
  
Stand beside me  
  
Be true, don't tell lies to me  
  
I'm not lookin' for a fantasy  
  
I want a man who stands beside me ~  
  
Months went by like hours. Setsuna was finally happy for once in her life. She was starting to forget the pain she had felt when Sapphir died. Then one day, it all changed. The man she had fallen in love with came home drunk. He beat her. At first it was only once in a while, then it grew more frequent. Only one person managed to find out. A young girl in college that reminded Setsuna very much of Usagi-hime had grown to be her best friend. The girl had been coming over one day when she saw the fighting through the window. She ran off to report the man to the police.  
  
The officer they sent back was tall. His piercing azure eyes looked as though they meant naught but business. He pounded on the door, demanding entrance. Setsuna ran to get the door but found herself being thrown against the wall. She screamed in agony as a protruding nail met the flesh on her back. The young officer used this as a reason to enter. He gaped at what he saw. A woman whose resemblance to Sailor Pluto was impossible was on the ground crying with a man standing over her screaming at her. She looked at the officer and her eyes widened.  
  
"Sapphir," she whispered and gave him a look that begged for help. What she was thinking, no one knew, for Sapphir was a member of the Black Moon family and not likely to help anyone -especially not his enemy. She didn't even know if this man was indeed Sapphir, he could just look like her old hopeless crush.  
  
The officer nodded slowly, figuring out that this woman was Sailor Pluto -no normal woman would know of him. A spike flew from the palm of his hand and hit the man in the jugular vein. The man was pinned to a wall and died instantly, though painfully. The officer ran to the woman and looked her in the eyes. "Pluto, is it?"  
  
She nodded. "P-please don't hurt me. I haven't done anything to you."  
  
He smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not like that anymore." He pointed to his silvery badge. "I'm a cop now."  
  
Her eyes widened further. "Then it's not just a ploy?"  
  
"No, no it isn't. Here, let me help you." He said as he pulled her to her feet. "How long has this been going on?"  
  
"Seven or eight months, I suppose. I lost track of time." As she was talking, a tear rolled down her cheek, then another and another. Sapphir sighed. He pulled her into his arms and held her while she cried.  
  
~I didn't expect to see him, one hot July morning  
  
His hair was longer but his eyes were the same old blue  
  
He said, "I've missed you for so long. Oh baby, what can I do?"  
  
I said, "I want a man that stands beside me  
  
Not in front of or behind me  
  
Give me two arms that want to hold me, not own me  
  
And I'll give all the love in my heart." ~  
  
They sat like that for a long time, maybe hours. Finally, she looked at him and had the nerve to ask "Why? Why did you come back?"  
  
"I got a second chance. When I tried to save my brother, the fates decided it wasn't my time. I was sent back with a few orders. I had to help as many people as I could, and I was told to learn to love. They also told me I was to find the one person that needed me most and to hold her and never let go," He said, smiling.  
  
She blinked, not understanding. Suddenly a look of realization followed by one of hurt came over her face. "You got a girlfriend?"  
  
"No, but I'm not letting you go anytime soon." She blushed and then smiled. Then her thoughts shifted to thoughts that he could be deceiving her. She didn't want to believe it. Her heart was breaking once more. She just couldn't take it. Setsuna burst into another fit of tears. Sapphir sighed. "Was it something I said? I'm sorry. I don't mean to hurt you. I desire nothing of the sort."  
  
"I, I want to b-believe that, b-but you worked for Demando. H-how do I know you're not deceiving me?"  
  
He looked hurt. "I'm sorry, but I don't have any real proof for you. You'll just have to go on my word. But if you remember, I died trying to help your princess."  
  
"I know," she replied between sobs, "I just don't want to be hurt again."  
  
"Don't worry, I won't let that happen. Nor will I ask of you anything you do not wish to tell." He looked so sincere. Setsuna knew deep in her heart that she still loved him, but she didn't know if it was right.  
  
~Oh--It's hard to  
  
Tell him, "No" when I want him so bad  
  
But I've got to be true to my heart  
  
This time ~  
  
They just sat there for a while. Finally, Setsuna spoke. "I'll give you a chance."  
  
He smiled a smile that reached the corners of his eyes. "Good, I need you as much as you need me."  
  
"Doubtful. You haven't spent your entire life in a desolate abyss that turned into a prison. You also haven't watched the one man -or woman in your case- be killed for trying to save his brother and friends."  
  
"You've loved me your entire life?"  
  
"Yes, yes I have -and I won't ever stop loving you."  
  
This drew another smile from Sapphir's lips. He kissed her forehead. "You're right that I haven't stood there guarding those infernal gates, but ever since I went through I've suffered knowing the one woman I wanted did. It was hard being able to have anyone -anyone, except the one woman you love."  
  
"I would guess, but not having anyone is just as bad," Setsuna replied sadly.  
  
"Cheer up. You're not alone anymore," he said as he lifted her delicate chin to meet her eyes. "I won't ever leave you."  
  
Setsuna visibly blushed as she looked into his eyes so blue. His eyes were bluer than even those of her future king. She imagined that her cheeks were currently a shade of crimson similar to her own orbs of such a bloody red.  
  
"You've never been kissed, have you, Setsuna?" She slowly nodded in agreement. "May I kiss you then?" This drew out another blush from the normally stoic senshi. Sapphir smirked and didn't wait for her response. He brought his lips down upon her soft ones. When she didn't object, he deepened the kiss, playing at her lower lip with his tongue. She opened her mouth slightly to grant him entry. Finally he pulled back.  
  
~I'm not lookin' for a fantasy  
  
I want a man who stands beside me  
  
I want a man  
  
Who stands beside me~  
  
Setsuna just smiled. She wanted to say something, but she could find no words. He smiled back. "You should rest now, my darling girl. Allow me to slave your wounds also."  
  
She blinked and then remembered the numerous bruises and gashes found everywhere on her body. "A- all of them?" She asked in a tiny voice.  
  
"Yes, all of them. What's wrong with that?"  
  
"Well, many of them are in..... personal areas."  
  
He grinned. "I have no objections to seeing you unclothed. I may want to kill that man when I see what he did to you, though."  
  
She was bright red. "He's already dead. You killed him when you cam in."  
  
~Stand beside me........~  
  
He grinned. "Oops, I guess I forgot about that. As for your wounds, I'll only bandage the worse off ones. You're not to do anything until you are fully recovered, though. I'm going to inform your queen of this."  
  
Her eyes widened. "No, please don't. I can take care of myself, really. And I have a job and schooling to keep up with."  
  
"Too bad. I'll call them both and tell what happened. They will listen to an officer."  
  
~Stand beside me........ ~  
  
Setsuna sighed. She loved him so much, but he was nearly impossible. She continued dwelling on the thought and figured out that he probably thought the same of her. She decided to just let him do with her what he wanted. She knew deep down that he wouldn't hurt her. She had a feeling that his relationship would last a long time. She decided to wait a while to tell him everything she had been through, though. She was happy once more, with someone who wouldn't hurt her.  
  
~*~  
  
Well, There's the ending. Whatcha think? I hope that was good, on account of I've been writing all night. If not, I apologize for my lack of sleep. I tend to get some sort of a drunken experience from too much caffeine. 


End file.
